Ellana Sheer HD Finishing Powder

I first fell in love with HD makeup after I tried Make Up Forever's (MUFE) HD line.  My heart beat and broke when I first tried their HD finishing powder -- how fine, natural and soft it made my skin feel made me believe in the concept of sheer goodness again, the price tag of Php1850 for a small canister, however; broke my heart.

Nonetheless, good things are hard to find but a year after I found a cheaper version -- Ellana's HD finishing powder.  For those, uninitiated with MUFE's finishing powder, the whiteness of the powder might scare you a bit making you thing you'll either end up like a zombie or Michael Jackson - which is practically the same now I suppose but then I'm watching This is It on HBO, hence - that you wouldn't even try. Fret not, though, the powder is so fine it practically disappears on your skin.

my skin after class, hello pores

a much closer, but clearly more even, closeup

I still find the MUFE version better though. But surely, the Ellana version is highly comparable and not bad at all. Considering how the Ellana version is like 80% cheaper it surely is the best deal.

I find it very useful as well for these functions:

• Primer: to even our your skin tone and make pores appear smaller and at the same time have your liquid foundation slide perfectly.  I use those silicone base primers but they're kinda pricey and quite hard to find. I use Bare Escentuals.

• Finishing powder, if you wanna do three layers for perfect staying power as when you're going to an event or something and the only thing you can sneak in in your purse is an oil blot.

• Dusting powder, for those moments when you need to wear dark eyeshadow and it's just so hard to avoid getting eyeshadow on your undereye area.

Ellana Mineral makeup may be ordered online at www.ellanaminerals.com. 

Other products you might want to buy too are their:

• Foundations: good coverage, and natural.  The downside though is since they don't have such wide range of colors, you might need to get other brands to even out your tone.
• Eyeshadow. Very highly pigmented. It's almost comparable to MAC pigments
• Bronzers. Also very good pigments...a little goes a long way.

What I wouldn't recommend are the brushes though. I use Shu Uemura's brush, from the Holidays Edition, and comparing it to Ellana's brushes surely negates the claim that it's made of the softest materials...I suppose it wouldn't be bad for eyeliner brush or crease brush, though, since you would need stiff brushes for that one.

Conclusion:
If you love good quality makeup but don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it, Ellana is surely a (online) store to visit.

Product Review: Human Nature Cleanser & Makeup Remover

I am a self-confessed makeup junkie. It probably started when I was three years old and discovered the power of lipstick in a little pink candy called lips. Twenty one years later, I still totally love makeup albeit with more sophistication now that a 1 peso candy laced with pink food color.

Everyone who pretty much loves makeup is always in search of the Holy Grail – the ultimate makeup remover. It doesn’t matter if you’re makeup is super-expensive, super hypoallergenic or super pure, at the end of the day – this is the first commandment of makeup junkies – you still have to remove it!

The best makeup remover I have found in the market so far is Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil. It’s the perfect makeup remover it removes even the most stubborn specie of the whole MAC kingdom: the waterproof mascara. One problem though is that it is a bit too expensive. At 3500 per 450 ml I usually just use it when I had to pile on several layers – from primer, to base to finishing powder – of makeup. Sometimes, I don’t use it when all I’ve used for the day is just some loose powder and bronzer it just doesn’t seem practical. I, however; feel guilty sometimes that I might have been unable to remove all traces of color pigment. So I tried other makeup removers – but it just doesn’t seem to come close to Shu’s cleansing power. So I am back to the traditional facial foam and toner. I want to be less dramatic and not say it like this but what the hell…Until last night.

Last night, after dining at healthy kitchen we went to this Echo Store in Serendra. The store sells environmental friendly toiletries which are locally made and most importantly CHEAP! Cheap, of course, usually equate to not good but since the labels clearly indicate the ingredients I figure well it’s worth trying. Since we already have pretty much what we need – shampoo, soap, massage oils, lotion, moisturizers etc. – we just bought some stuff which may be readily used (like that same night!). So final purchase for the night: cleanser/makeup remover and a non-toxic powdered insecticide called Exterminator. Since I cannot empathize with the ants, I will only do a review of the cleanser/makeup remover.

The cleanser/makeup remover is made from honey, and at 100 pesos it couldn’t be bad. After using it, it is not so bad at all. In fact, it’s super good! I didn’t have mascara at that time but I had on some cheek tint which pretty much stuck to my skin after sweating it out at Barre3. After emulsifying the cleanser, it cleaned out all traces of makeup and foundation on. The ultimate test that I had to subject it to that night was to use it as a cold cream too i.e. whether in using it with cotton I can still get some dirt or makeup residue. I didn’t get any! The best thing too is that not only do you get a clean face, but the cleanser left my skin nicely dewy and supple – bye bye to those moisture stripping facial cleanser that leaves you feeling like you just had botox.

Verdict: it’s not a replacement for Shu but it definitely works to replace your regular facial foam and perfect for light makeup days. I love it!

Another bonus thing too is that they don't wrap your purchases in a plastic bag, rather they put it in this recycled glossy magazines that was made into 'bags'. Of course, they could have instead asked us if we want our purchase our purchases wrapped to begin with.

Echo Store is located at G/F Serendra, across Market Market